Saturday, September 16, 2017

Fundraiser seeks help uncovering the truth about Wayne County foreclosures

This Loveland map shows all of the properties that have been foreclosed and sold at auction in the city over the past 15 years.

When it comes to Wayne County tax foreclosures, some of the gaps in what even supposed experts know about it are surprising. Few people know this better than Jerry Paffendorf, the CEO of Loveland Technologies. Despite his firm's best efforts to track the county's tax foreclosures in Detroit, it's difficult to get a nuanced picture of them over the last 15 years.

How many, for instance, have been notified about foreclosure proceedings? How properties many reached auction? Just how many of the homes were occupied when the foreclosures took place?

Paffendorf recently filed a large Freedom of Information Act request with the county, seeking answers to all of those questions.

While the county approved most of his request, there's still the matter of what the county estimates it need to be paid for the work required to properly furnish the information. In this case, it's a little bit more than $1,000.

Given this high figure, Paffendorf has taken to crowdfunding to raise the needed funds. He's already gotten a large donation, but hopes to exceed the goal, since the estimate might prove low. He has promised to give any leftover funds to the good people at Tricycle Collective, who help keep families facing tax foreclosure in their homes.

To learn more about the crowdfunding campaign or to make a donation, click here.